The Liberian Agenda Page 16

  Tara clenched her teeth against the pain. “My shoulder.”

  “Medic! We need two gurneys!” Tyrone opened his emergency kit, extracted a bandage, pressed it against Tara’s shoulder and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

  Tara struggled to sit up but Tyrone held her down. They had to help Sonia. She’d be damned if she’d lose another casualty to that son of a bitch Joseph.

  “No. Don’t get up, sis. Just take it easy,” Tyrone said.

  “But Sonia,” Tara said.

  “The medic is taking care of her now,” he said. “You’re next. Just hold on.”

  .

  Chapter XVIII

  Sonia opened her eyes and wondered if she had died and gone to heaven. Everything was white. She blinked trying to adjust to the almost blinding light. After a few moments, she realized that she was lying in a bed looking up at a white ceiling. Slowly, she became aware of the IV drip in her right arm and the bandages covering her chest.

  She heard a low buzzing sound to her left and turned her head to find the source. Her mother was fast asleep in a chair next to the bed, snoring. She studied her for a moment and wondered whether to wake her. The poor woman looked exhausted. Her usually perfectly coiffed hair was a little disheveled. Tendrils had started to fall from the bun on top of her head and coil around her cheeks. She wasn’t wearing any makeup either. Lines that Sonia had never noticed before had started to form around her mouth. Guilt swamped Sonia at the thought that she was responsible for putting them there. Her parents must have been worried sick. Now that she was a mother herself, she understood that primal and overwhelming need to protect one’s child.

  David! Where was he? She had to know. She tried to say something -- to call out to her mother, but it came out more like a mumble. Her mouth was so dry. She swallowed, cleared her throat, and tried again.

  “Mom,” she said.

  Her mother opened her eyes, stretched a little, and looked at Sonia. Her eyes widened then she jumped up out of the chair and rushed to her bedside. “Sonia? Oh baby, you’re awake.” She raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Thank God. Thank you, Lord.” She hugged Sonia and planted kisses all over her face.

  Sonia smiled and started to laugh, but it hurt too much. She groaned.

  Her mother frowned. “How do you feel? Are you in pain? Let me get the doctor.”

  Before Sonia could say a word, her mother rushed out of the room shouting for the nurse. “She’s awake! My daughter is awake! Get the doctor.” Mrs. Johnson returned to Sonia’s bedside.

  Sonia grabbed her arm to get her attention. “David?”

  Her mom patted her hand. “He’s fine, sweetie. He’s at home with your father.”

  Sonia closed her eyes in relief. David was safe. Thank God. Now if she could just keep him that way. The only way to do that was to make sure Joseph couldn’t take him back to Liberia. She opened her eyes. “Joseph?”

  Her mother shook her head and squeezed her hand. “I can’t imagine what you must have gone through, dear. I almost died a thousand deaths when they told me what happened and that you were in the hospital.” Tears filled her eyes. “We thought we were going to lose you.”

  “Oh mom, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to put you through that. I didn’t know. I didn’t know until it was too late,” she said. They cried together for a moment.

  Her mother straightened when the doctor and the nurse walked into the room. She grabbed some tissues from the bedside table and wiped her face. “Enough. You’re back, alive, and safe. I have to call your father and let him know.”

  “You’re a very lucky woman,” the doctor said. He checked her pulse.

  “You have no idea,” Sonia said.

  “I think I have a clue. The bullet did extensive internal damage. You went into a coma and we weren’t sure when or if you’d come out,” he said.

  “How long have I been out?” Sonia asked.

  “It’s been two weeks,” he said.

  After the doctor and nurses left, Sonia’s mother came back into the room. “There’s someone here to see you,” she said. She stepped aside.

  Tara stood behind her. She was hooked up to a portable IV stand.

  Sonia smiled. “Tara! Oh thank God. I thought I’d never see you again. Come here, girl!”

  Tara grinned and walked over to the bed. “It’s good to see you too. You’ve been unconscious for a while now. We weren’t sure you’d pull through. But I should have known you would, being stubborn as hell. I was tempted to kill you myself when you decided to leave that file room after I specifically told you not to.”

  “I was going crazy in that place. I had to get to my son,” Sonia said.

  Tara nodded. “I understand.”

  “So, what happened?” Sonia asked. “The last thing I remember was shooting Joseph and him shooting me. Is he still alive?”

  “No. You hit him, but you missed his heart. He was still alive when we got there. When he heard you were still alive, he tried to shoot you again. I blocked the shot hoping he would hit the vest, but he got me in the shoulder. That’s when Tyrone took his ass out. Sorry ma’am,” Tara said, glancing at Mrs. Johnson.

  Sonia’s mother shook her head. “You jumped in front of a bullet meant for my daughter. You can say any damned thing you want. There’s no need to apologize. We owe you a debt we can never repay.”

  “Yes. Thank you Tara. You saved my life,” Sonia said. “What about Saye?”

  “We found him lying on the ground. He was dead,” Tara said.

  With both Joseph and Saye dead, who will take over Liberia?” Sonia asked.

  “President Sirleaf has been reinstated as the president of Liberia,” Tara said.

  That was as it should be. Sonia nodded. “Good. Since both Joseph and Saye are dead, there’s no need for us to go into the witness protection program, right?”

  “Well, it is less likely that anyone will come after you and David; however, we still recommend you go into the program. There is still an outside chance that persons loyal to them will seek revenge,” Tara said.

  Sonia thought about it for a moment. “No. David and I aren’t going to live the rest of our lives in hiding. What happened in Liberia is in the past. We’ve got to look toward the future now.”

  “But Sonia,” Tara said, “Joseph and Saye had cousins. You met some of them at Dwe’s birthday party. While we have no evidence they were ever involved in Dwe’s business or in politics, you never know what they’ll do when they learn that Joseph and Saye are dead. We’ve done everything possible to keep how they died a secret, but you know how it is. There were guards and servants in the mansion. Once they tell others what they observed, people will piece it together. You really should consider going into the program.”

  Sonia sighed and closed her eyes. “I’ll consider it, Tara, but I don’t believe I’ll change my mind.”

  Tara put her hand over Sonia’s. “That’s all I can ask. Get some rest.” She left the room.

  A half hour later, the door to Sonia’s room opened again. It was her father and David. Before his grandfather could stop him, David ran up to his mother’s bed, climbed up on it and gave her a kiss.

  Sonia smiled, hugged her son tightly and kissed his little cheeks, oblivious to the pain caused by his weight laying across her bandages. “Baby, I’m so happy to see you.” She smiled up at her father and held out one of her hands to him.

  He took it and squeezed. “Welcome back, love.”

  Sonia blinked back tears and rubbed her face against her son’s smooth cheek. She and her son were safe and back in the States. Life didn’t get much better than this.

  ***

  Later that evening, after visiting hours were over, Sonia slept peacefully in her hospital bed. She dreamed she was on a beach building sandcastles with David. Sea gulls flew around them. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

  Suddenly, the sky darkened. Wind whipped the sand up with a fury and sent waves crashing onto the beach. The tide rose and the wave
s got bigger and bigger. A large tidal wave formed and headed toward the beach. She scooped David up and began running toward the parking lot. She struggled to breathe. The wave overtook them. She couldn’t breathe. The pain was excruciating. She struggled furiously to claw her way free and get some air.

  Sonia woke up to find a pillow being pressed over face and a heavy weight across her chest. Adrenaline kicked in. She heard the pace of the beeps on her heart monitor increase. She struggled to get the pillow off her face and pushed at the heavy weight on her chest, but neither would budge. She was too weak from her injuries. Despair kicked in as she felt herself begin to lose consciousness. She couldn’t die in this hospital bed -- not after she’d fought so hard to get David to safety.

  In a moment of clarity, she remembered a move from Tyrone’s self-defense training. She was too weak to win this fight with brute force, but if she could just get her attacker to back off, then maybe she could get some air and scream for help. She stopped struggling and let go of the pillow. She then reached up and felt for her attacker’s face. Her hands came into contact with rows of braids. She grabbed the braids and yanked as hard as she could.

  She heard a yelp and the pillow slid off her face. She gulped in air and raked her nails over her attacker’s face. She then struck upwards with the heel of her hand under her attacker’s nose as hard as she could. She heard a scream and a crashing sound.

  She sat up, gasping for air, and saw Fatima sitting on the floor with her hands over her face. Blood flowed between her fingers.

  “You bitch!” she screamed. “You broke my nose!”

  The nurse came running into the room. “What’s going on here?” she asked. “I heard a crash.” She looked at Fatima. “Who are you? What are you doing in here?”

  “She tried to kill me,” Sonia said. She picked up the handset to the telephone next to her bed and dialed zero for the operator. “This is Sonia Saytumah. I’m in room 420. Please send security to my room right away and call the police. Someone just tried to kill me.”

  She heard a low metallic click and turned just in time to see Fatima grab the nurse by the arm and stab her in the chest.

  “Oh my God, she has a knife! She just stabbed the nurse!” Sonia screamed.

  She dropped the telephone handset and looked around for something to defend herself with. But there was nothing – only a vase of flowers her parents had brought to her room earlier and a drawing her son had left her.

  Fatima let go of the nurse. She slumped to the floor. Fatima then looked up at Sonia. She looked a sight. Her nose was crooked and swollen, and her face had begun to bruise. Her lips curled back with hatred. “You’re next, bitch. You took everything from me. It’s time I took everything from you.”

  Since she had no weapon with which to defend herself, Sonia knew she had to stall Fatima until security could get to the room. “Fatima, what are you doing here? Why are you trying to kill me? What do you mean I took everything from you?”

  “I waited my entire life to be the first lady. I worked for Dwe all those years so I could get close to him and his sons. But Dwe saw me like a daughter and Joseph wanted no part of me. He only had eyes for you. I was able to get close to Saye and get him to trust me, but you had to kill him. It was never enough for you to be the first lady. No. Spoiled little Sonia had to have her way and get into bed with American spies. Because of you Saye is dead and I will never get the chance to be the first lady. But you get to come here and live in America and be free. Why should you be alive and happy if Saye is dead?”

  “I didn’t kill Saye, Joseph did because you and he kidnapped our son. Look Fatima, I never asked for any of this. I never wanted to be involved in that saga in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, you could have had Joseph. I never wanted to be the first lady. All I ever wanted was for my son to be safe. Don’t make him an orphan by killing me. Please,” Sonia said.

  Fatima shook her head. “It’s too late.” She began walking toward the bed.

  The door to the room crashed in and Tara appeared in the doorway holding a gun. “Drop that knife and get away from her.”

  Fatima froze, momentarily. “No!” she screamed. She turned back to Sonia, raised the knife over her head and ran the last few steps to the bed.

  Sonia looked up into Fatima’s crazed eyes and saw her own death. She cringed.

  Tara took the shot. The bullet slammed into Fatima and knocked her into the IV which crashed to the floor.

  Sonia slumped back on the bed, her breathing shallow.

  Medical staff and security guards raced into the room. One doctor checked the nurse and began treating her gunshot wounds. Sonia’s doctor examined her to make sure she was alright. He then examined Fatima and shook his head. “She’s dead.”

  Tara, who had been giving her report to the police, walked up to Sonia. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Sonia said, “thanks to you and the self-defense training Tyrone gave me.” She shook her head. “Who knew I’d need to use it while lying in a hospital bed?”

  “The police want to ask you some questions. Should I make them come back tomorrow or are you up to it?” Tara asked.

  “I’m up to it,” Sonia said.

  “After this, will you please, please let me put you and your family into the witness protection program?” Tara asked.

  Sonia nodded. “Okay. You talked me into it. I have to talk to my parents about it though.”

  Tara nodded. “I understand. In the meantime, we’re putting round the clock protection on you and your family. We don’t know how many other maniacs are out there blaming you for Saye and Joseph’s deaths.”

  “Thank you,” Sonia said, “for everything. Now go and get some rest before you fall out. You’re not exactly in tip top shape yourself.”

  Tara laughed. “No, I’m not. I think I ripped one of my stitches getting here after I got the call from security. My shoulder hurts like a bitch.”

  “Doctor!” Sonia called out.

  Her doctor walked back into the room. “Yes?”

  “Please take this maniac back to her room and check her out. She has a super hero complex and probably aggravated her injuries by racing to my rescue,” Sonia said.

  Tara rolled her eyes. “Now who’s acting like Florence Nightingale? I’m fine.”

  Sonia merely raised her eyebrows and looked at her doctor.

  “Come along, young lady.” He took Tara by the arm and led her out of the room. “We need to take a look at those bandages. It would not surprise me if you busted a few stitches running around like that.”

  Sonia could hear Tara protesting all the way down the hall. She smiled.

  Epilogue

  A few years later, Sonia sat in the dining room of her home in a Virginia suburb grading papers. She had agreed to go into the witness protection program. They made her an English professor at Georgetown University. Her education and her writing background made her well suited for the position. The head of the English Department had his eye on her and told her during her last review that she was on track for a tenured position.

  She looked out the window and watched David play with one of the neighbor’s kids in her backyard. They were running around, whooping it up and spraying each other with water guns.

  She smiled. David had adjusted wonderfully to his new surroundings. He had made friends and hardly asked about his father anymore. She’d tried to explain to him that his father was dead, but such things were difficult to explain to a five year old. She knew that one day she’d have to tell him the whole truth. She could only hope he wouldn’t hate her for it and that he’d understand she’d done what she had to do to protect him.

  She heard a knock at the front door and then the sound of her screen door opening. Tensing, she reached into her purse and grabbed the gun resting in there. She relaxed when she saw that it was just her father. She sighed and eased the weapon back into her purse. Her parents had gone into the witness protection program with her and David. She�
�d thought it was a lot to ask them to leave behind her father’s position and all their friends, but they’d insisted. They hadn’t wanted to be apart from her and David.

  “Dad, you scared me. Do you know how close you came to getting shot?” She rose from the couch to give him a hug and a kiss. They sat together at the dining room table.

  “If you’re so scared, then maybe you should keep your door locked,” he said.

  He had her there. “I can’t argue with that,” she said.

  “What? My daughter the lawyer chose not to argue about something? I never thought I’d see the day.” He placed his hand over his heart playfully.

  Sonia laughed. “You forget I’m not a lawyer any more – just a very proper English professor.”

  Her father shook his head. “No, I didn’t forget anything. You’ll be a lawyer until the day you die. Your license might expire, but you will always be a lawyer right down to the bone.” He smiled at her.

  Sonia chuckled. “Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment even though I’m not entirely sure you meant it as one.” She looked out the window to check on her son and sighed.

  “Dad -- do you and Mom ever regret entering into the program?” she asked.

  “Of course not, baby,” her father said. He reached out to take her hand. “We get to see more of you and David now than we ever did before. That means more to us than you could ever know – especially after we almost lost you both.”

  “I think I have a clue,” she said.

  They both turned to watch David and the neighbor’s kid racing around the back yard. The kids looked as happy as could be and, for the moment, all was right with the world.

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